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Bdmont Abbc^ College
Vol. VI No. 2
BELMONT, N. C.
DEC EMBEK, 1977
Well Done Faithful Servant
By FR. JOHN P. BRADLEY
Since Father Cuthbert died on
Thursday, December 1, the
many newspaper articles and
editorials that have appeared
eulogizing him have touched on
different qualities that
distinguished the life of this
good man. They have praised
him as a man whose
Christianity transcended
denominational boundaries and
prompted his lifelong in
volvement with many good
causes in our local community.
They have enumerated the
ways in which he has been
recognized over the years as a
leader in higher education
throughout the Southeast. They
have told of his humor, his
friendships with the famous, his
playfulness, his loyalty, and his
readiness at any time to assist
whomsoever needed help.
All of these things were, of
course, among Father Cuth-
bert’s many fine qualities, but
the outstanding quality that has
always impressed me and has
won my admiration since I first
came to know him in 1952 was
his total commitment to
Belmont Abbey College. The
fact that so many people, far
and wide, speak of him and
think of him as Mr. Belmont
Abbey, and indeed will continue
to do so, is merely one way
people have chosen to express
Father Cuthbert’s absolute,
unwavering, and total com
mitment to his work for the
College.
This remarkable com
mitment and dedication, day in
and day out, year after year, for
half a century, would be
remarkable in any age. In our
time, when commitment and
dedication are seemingly in
rather short supply. Father
Cuthbert’s commitment and
dedication to Belmont Abbey
College shines forth like a
beacon. Here was a man who
had the rich internal resources
to face each day with fresh
enthusiasm and unfailing good
humof for all those years.
Nothing seemed ever to “get
him down”: not the countless
frustrations that college
presidents know only too well,
and he carried the burden of
three separate assignments as
chief executive of the College
(1936-43: 1946-48; 1956-60); not
the lack of appreciation that
was too often his lot; not the
exhausting schedule he chose to
keep, rising early each day and
working often till well after
midnight, seven days a week,
believe, it was his deep
spirituality, for Father Cuth
bert was nothing if not a
thoroughly Christian man, and
his total commitment to
Belmont Abbey College and to
people generally sprang from
his total commitment to his
Christian faith. His Catholic
Christianity prompted him to
be, in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s
phrase, “a man for others”, and
his work in the College provided
the setting for him “to see God
in man” and to live his life
accordingly.
Father Cuthbert was indeed
“a man for others”, all kinds of
“others”, but his greatest
dedication was to the students
of Belmont Abbey College ~
generation after generation of
students. It seems to me that
modern educators could learn
(Continued On Page 6)
Will Remain at BAC
President Resigns
Fr. John P, Bradley has
submitted his resignation as
president of Belmont Abbey
College, effective May 31, 1978.
This was the announcement
made by Abbot Jude Cleary,
O.S.B., chairman of the Board
of Trustees and chancellor of
Belmont Abbey College at a
press conference held Nov. 18.
Abbot Jude stated that the
Board of Trustees had, at its
September meeting, with great
reluctance accepted Fr.
Bradley’s resignation.
The Abbot went on to say,
“Fr. Bradley’s resignation was
somewhat softened by the fact
that he will continue to work for
the College. When relieved of
the multifarious duties that
nowadays burden a college
president, Fr. Bradley plans to
concentrate on a few areas that
are crucially important for
sustaining forward
movement of the College
achieved during his
presidency.”
Since becoming president of
Belmont Abbey College in 1970,
Fr. Bradley been the ar
chitect of numerous significant
changes. prominent among
these changes are the
following: the College charter
has been amended to include a
majority of lay men and women
FR. JOHN P. BRADLEY
Benedictine monks; the College
has become fully co-educational
and enrollment has increased;
the College’s relation with the
local community has become
much closer in various ways;
contributions to the College
have increased substantially;
and a number of physical im
provements of the campus have
been completed.
Commenting on his
resignation and future plans,
Fr. Bradley said, “I believe
eight years as college president
is a respectable period of ser
vice in what nowadays is a very
demanding job. I am convinced
by experience in that job that a
private college such as Belmont
on the Board of Trustees which
previously consisted of seven
Abbey must concentrate as
much effort and competence as
possible on a few areas if it is to
continue to progress as an in
stitution of higher learning in
these times. Among these areas
are: constant improvement of
techniques and procedures to
enroll students who are truly
capable of college studies;
strengthening and expanding its
links with its local community;
and continuing its efforts to
build a substantial endowment.
These are the areas on which I
plan lo focus my attention in the
future.”
The Executive Committee of
the Board of Trustees has ap
proved the formation of a
Search Committee for a new
president and has decided that
this committee’s membership
will consist of five members of
the Board of Trustees, Abbot
Jude Cleary, O.S.B., chairman,
James G. Babb, Jr., E.F.
Gallagher II, Fr. John Oetgen,
O.S.B., and Basil L. Whitener;.
one faculty member elected by
the instructional faculty. Dr.
George Herndl; one student
member elected by the Student
Association, Mike Weber; and
one member of the Alumni
Association appointed by the
Board of Trustees, Dr. Kevin
Soden.
FR. CUTHBERT E. ALLEN. O.S.B.
‘Mr. Belmont Abbey’
Succumbs at 71
The Rev. Cuthbert Edward Allen, O.S.B., LL.D., executive vice
president of Belmont Abbey College, died at 9:20 p.m. December 1 in
the Belmont Abbey monastery.
Over Fr. Cuthbert’s long illness, many alumni asked about him.
He was truly a man beloved by all Abbey alumni, and indeed by
many persons he contacted over the many years he was associated
with the Abbey and before. For more than 40 years, he was an ad
ministrator of Belmont Abbey College.
Father Cuthbert was the rector and vice president (then ad-,
ministrative head) of the College from 1936-42; again from 1945-47,
when he became dean of the College from 1947-54. He served as
director of public relations and alumni affairs, 1955-69; was ap
pointed president of the College 1956-60; vice chancellor 1960-62;
director of development 1960-69. He was appointed executive vice
president in 1969, a position he held until his death.
He was president of the North Carolina Conference of (’olleges and
Universities, and for six years was a member of the Commission of
Colleges and Universities of the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools. He was a member of the North Carolina State Committee' on
Elementary Education and served as a member of numerous
education committees throughout the Southern region, including
I membership on the Committee to revise Standards of the Southern
I Association.
Listed in many Who’s Who, Father Cuthbert was the recipient in
1963 of the Brotherhood Award given by the Gaston County Chapter,
National Conference of Christians and Jews, received the Silver
Medallion from the NCCJ, and was elected a charter member of the
National Honor Corps of the NCCJ. In 1970 he was elected to the
National Register of I’rominent Americans. He was a director of the
Belmont Chamber of Commerce and the American Red Cross;
Chairman of the Tri-City Health F'acilities Commission in Belmont;
an honorary member of the North Carolina Lives of the Historical
Record Association; a member of Pi Gamma Mu Social Science
Honor Society; and founder of the Abbey Chapter of Delta Epsilon
Sigma Honor Society. He received the Public Service Achievement
Award from WSOC Broadcasting Company and the Charlotte
Philosophical Society. He was an honorary Kentucky Colonel.
During a ceremony in 1975, Fr. Cuthbert received the Bene
Merenti Award from Pope Paul VI in recognition of his exceptional
contributions to the Catholic Church. The ceremony was the
highlight of “Fr. Cuthbert Day,” sponsored by the monks of Belmont
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